Political Junkie

10:02 am

Wed March 13, 2013

It's ScuttleButton Time!

If any of you happen to see the "white smoke" in the next day or so, you should immediately know what that means: I've been once again using hallucinogens to come up with the new ScuttleButton puzzle.

ScuttleButton, of course, is that once-a-week waste of time exercise in which each Monday or Tuesday I put up a vertical display of buttons on this site. Your job is to simply take one word (or concept) per button, add 'em up, and, hopefully, you will arrive at a famous name or a familiar expression. (And seriously, by familiar, I mean it's something that more than one person on Earth would recognize.)

For years, a correct answer chosen at random would get his or her name posted in this column, an incredible honor in itself. Now the stakes are even higher. Thanks to the efforts of the folks at Talk of the Nation, that person also hears their name mentioned on the Wednesday show (by me) and receives a Political Junkie t-shirt in the bargain. Is this a great country or what?

You can't use the comments box at the bottom of the page for your answer. Send submission (plus your name and city/state — you won't win without that) to politicaljunkie@npr.org.

(Why do people keep forgetting to include their name and city/state?)

And, by adding your name to the Political Junkie mailing list, you will be among the first on your block to receive notice about the column and the puzzle. Sign up at politicaljunkie@npr.org. Or you can make sure to get an automatic RSS feed whenever a new Junkie post goes up by clicking here.

Good luck!

By the way, I always announce the winner on Wednesday's Junkie segment on TOTN — seven or eight days after the puzzle goes up. So you should try and get your answer in as soon as possible. But logistically, you have about a week to submit your guess.

Vote YES! on Question #1 — A Yes vote on this 1966 New York City referendum would abolish Mayor John Lindsay's civilian review board designed to monitor police behavior. The measure passed overwhelmingly.

I'm for Sinner/You Know Where He Stands — George Sinner, a Democrat, was elected governor of North Dakota in 1984.

Bloom Is Great In '78 — Jeremiah Bloom finished third in New York's Democratic gubernatorial primary won by incumbent Hugh Carey.

Man's First Landing On the Moon/Apollo 11 — The historic 1969 voyage of Neil Armstrong and Co.

So, when you combine 1 + Sinner + Bloom + Moon, you may just very well end up with ...

Once In a Blue Moon. An expression referring to a rare or infrequent event. Sort of like Ken Rudin cleaning up his desk at work.

The winner, chosen completely at random, is ... Jen Tilden of Denver, Colo. Jen gets not only the coveted Political Junkie t-shirt — but the Official No Prize Button as well!

And don't forget to check out this week's Political Junkie column, which focuses on Jeb Bush and his new book on immigration — and how it fits into the conversation about 2016. Click here to read the column.